Insights & ArticlesA Study of our Vineyards
“The vision of the winemaker starts in the field.”
We have the great privilege of farming small select parcels across more than two dozen very special vineyard sites.
It takes time, working with a vineyard, to discover its defining characteristics. Then, it takes even longer to use the right winemaking techniques and sensitivity to highlight those features in the wine. A lightness of touch in our winemaking allows us to achieve a more complex, multi-dimensional, “effortless” quality in our wines.
Over two decades, we’ve gained access to some truly legendary sites. And we’ve achieved close personal relationships with our growers. Our shared respect for the land, our dedication to the work, and our mutual respect for each other, carry through to the final product. We work with good people and we’re going to make some amazing wines.
From first pruning through to the day of harvest, we’re out there farming the land in a way that draws out the singularity of each parcel. We minimize our footprint in the vineyard, stay very close to the “ingredients” and let the vineyards speak for themselves.
MENCÍA MacIntyre Estate Vineyard
CHENIN BLANC MacIntyre Estate Vineyard
NAPA SOILS Haire Clay Loam Haire Loam
Insights & ArticlesHighland Divide:
Estate-Driven and Precisely Blended
“Highland Divide, for me, describes a very special zone that separates the valley floor of the Russian River from the Sonoma Coast. That’s really the tenderloin section of the Russian River Valley itself. I always find that we get our best grapes from this area.”
We firmly believe that each DuMOL wine tells an original story. These stories begin in the vineyard, some of which go back to the early 1980’s when our oldest vines were planted. They build upon that base with the narrative of each vintage, describing through taste, texture, and perfume the unique agricultural and climatic circumstances that we are presented with each year. The stories of our vineyard designates, cellar-worthy and beloved, end there. Each wine is molded by vintage, crafted in the vineyard, and stewarded through the winery to your table. Our Highland Divide wines however, have a different and more complex journey.

“A single-vineyard wine relies solely on the quality of fruit and the farming. That's also true in a blended wine, but a blended wine showcases the talents of the winemakers in putting pieces together and bringing out the very best of different lots.”

Highland Divide takes the story of vineyard and vintage a step further. It seeks to combine the stories of multiple vineyards in one vintage into a cohesive, precisely crafted blend of Estate-grown, high-density farmed fruit. The winemakers must taste through dozens of lots, small parcels of vines that each have distinctive characteristics that may add to the final product. To see the subtle changes that different vinification methods offer from one lot to the next requires experience, a keen sense of taste and smell, and more importantly, an end goal. That end goal is simple and an enormous challenge at the same time: create a product that exemplifies DuMOL’s history of making wines with clarity, depth, and elegance. A wine that tells our story.
“Year in and year out, we aim to make a Highland Divide Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that will showcase what the appellation brings as a whole. We are making wines that are from different vineyard sites that have different aspects that when put together make a very complete wine.”
When the picking, vinifying, blending and aging are complete, you have a wine that is greater than the sum of its parts, like any good story. Fruit-driven but still a classic DuMOL Estate wine, with intensity, savory elements, and a purity of flavor that is on par with any of our other bottlings. Always delicious to drink on release, but capable of extended aging if you choose. Highland Divide tells the collective story of DuMOL through vineyard, vintage, and winemaking. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoyed making it.
Insights & ArticlesReflections on Our 2023 Spring Release

Vintage 2021 is one for the ages and—without exaggeration—I consider it a personal winegrowing highlight with several career-defining wines. Fighting talk I know, but if we consider (and drink!) the entire set of wines we crafted and will offer throughout the year, it’s hard to argue this isn’t our finest vintage ever. I might have said this previously of the 2018s, but these wines surpass even that famous vintage. We have a strong sense of achievement and no small measure of pride with this set…
The vineyard and seasonal conditions that produced this excellence: a dry season where the vines had to work hard but never quite reached peak stress; small, loose bunches with tiny, thick-skinned berries; a mild July and August, when quality can be won or lost; a moderately-paced harvest which allowed us to pick each specific block according to our vision without the external pressure and stress of heatwaves; and finally, a great team of motivated, cohesive vineyardists and winemakers. When we have grapes this pristine, the winemaking can be uncomplicated, without recipe or overt technical intervention, and each vineyard can speak with clarity and focus.
From bottle they are wines of aromatic detail and lift, lilting fruit purity and succulence, building volume and generous texture, each with a resonating echo of complexity as they linger long on the palate and in the memory.
All these wines improve for three days in a partial/recorked bottle held in the fridge overnight, which is a great way to watch them evolve and extend their pleasure…if you have the discipline. This also indicates they will age famously.
My notes are from January 2023. Please enjoy the wines and let us know your individual interpretations of each one.
to purchase wines join the list
Members, log in to view current allocations or contact us with questions.